The Australian Open is about to begin, and Jannik Sinner has once again defended his innocence in the doping case in March last year, when he tested positive on a banned substance, Clostebol, but was found innocent and only given a one-month ban, with the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepting Sinner's defence, that the contamination was accidental: his physiotherapists applied a cream on himself and later massaged Sinner without gloves.
Since then, many tennis players have expressed their criticism, believing that ITIA has turned a blind eye because of the high status of Sinner, World No. 1 by a long margin. Particularly, Nick Kyrgios has been very critical, and both players could meet during the Australian Open the next two weeks.
Asked about how he handled the criticism in the press conference before the competition, Sinner said that "In my mind I know exactly what happened, and that's how I block it. I haven't done anything wrong. That's why I'm still here. That's why I'm still playing".
"I don't want to respond to what Nick said or what other players say. I think the most important part is to have my people around me ... they exactly know what happened. That's it." Sinner also explained that he is very careful with any medicine he takes. "When the bottle is open, I throw it away (and) I take a new one. I was always very, very careful about this stuff."
Suspicious about how quickly he was cleared will probably remain around him in the coming weeks and months, but the Italian is focused on defending his title in the Australian Open. But he is waiting for an appeal that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) made in September, that could potentially result in a longer suspension for Sinner...